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This archived feature invited members of the public to submit questions to CFR's experts on various topics related to U.S. foreign policy. Selected questions on matters ranging from the latest news headlines to long-term international issues were answered by CFR fellows. This feature is now retired.

Featured Question

As a matter of international law, humanitarian intervention—such as the use of military force to protect foreign populations from mass atrocities or gross human rights abuses—is permissible if authorized by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Although many Western governments have taken the position that such intervention may in some cases be morally justified even if not authorized by the Security Council, most states and international legal experts do not regard that as lawful.

Past Questions

Although there is no formal institutional connection between India and NATO, India and the NATO allies, most importantly the United States, informally share an interest in maintaining maritime security in the Indian Ocean and have spent significant resources to combat piracy in this vast area.

Asked by Allana, from LaGuardia Community College Author: Jeanne HullJune 25, 2013

Continued concerns about increased border security and dwindling resources at all U.S. ports of entry are likely to contribute to more lengthy administrative processes at border crossing sites, but there are no longer any specific regulations or legislation that inhibit or prohibit the transit of Mexican trucks bearing legal imports across the U.S. border.

The way in which contiguous borders became less important is not new, but came with the advent of air power, which enabled countries to attack targets in an enemy's interior without conquering the enemy's defending army.

The problem with current efforts toward comprehensive immigration reform, as with the earlier Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (the last legislative success on immigration reform), is that the United States is trying to enact a bill that caters to many conflicting views and interests. This slows down the process and also produces unwieldiness and compromises that can make a mockery of the word "reform."

The Balkans region in southern Europe has been unsettled since the dismantling of Ottoman dominance there in the late nineteenth century. During the twentieth century, ethnic and sectarian tensions not infrequently brought war to the region, most recently during the 1990s amid the breakup of Yugoslavia. The United States played a significant role in bringing peace to Bosnia in 1995 and to Kosovo in 1999, but the region faces continued instability.

The so-called "BRICS"—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—are a group of countries that have enjoyed relatively fast economic growth and increased political influence. Russia's economy used to occupy the middle tier of the BRICS, but today many Russians worry that it is dropping to the bottom of the group.

Determining the "most urgent" global environmental issue is somewhat subjective; many would argue that carbon emissions and climate change is the most pressing issue. Others are just as passionate about deforestation, water scarcity, groundwater contamination, loss of biodiversity, landfills, ocean acidification, air quality… the list goes on.

Israel has discovered substantial natural gas deposits off its shores in the last four years. While these gas finds are not significant in terms of global gas supply (they constitute less than two percent of the world's proven gas reserves), they do appear large enough not only to meet Israel's needs, but to enable Israel to export significant quantities.

Chinese officials see stability on the Korean peninsula under the Korean Armistice as a component that has enabled China's growth for over three decades. Despite a growing difference between the economic systems of China and North Korea, China's communist party leadership feels an affinity with North Korea because its government, like China's, pursues one-party leadership under a socialist banner.

Robert Mugabe, age eighty-nine and in failing health, has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980. Zimbabwe faces numerous potential scenarios once he dies or, highly unlikely, if he is defeated in the upcoming summer elections.

Syria has been mired in deadly strife since March 2011 and the outlook for resolving what is now a full blown civil war looks increasingly dire. The worst case outcome for Syria is one whereby the country fragments and becomes a failed state in which the Damascus government no longer controls its own territory. Under such a scenario, the glue holding the country together comes unstuck.

The phrase "cyber Pearl Harbor" received attention when it by former defense secretary Leon E. Panetta in a speech about U.S. vulnerability to cyberwarfare threats. It is best understood as an effort to shape the domestic political debate and as a description of a potential future scenario, rather than as an accurate description of the cybersecurity threat.

The foreign policy of China's newly-installed president, Xi Jinping, is in its infancy, but one variable that has already generated much discussion is the role that Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan might play in shaping China's image abroad.

Asked by Felix Seidler, from Institute for Security Policy at the University of Kiel, Germany Author: Stewart M. PatrickJune 3, 2013

Despite its strategic "rebalancing" toward Asia, the United States is unlikely to sponsor a collective defense organization for the Asia-Pacific, for at least three reasons: insufficient solidarity among diverse regional partners, fear of alienating China, and the perceived advantages of bilateral and ad-hoc security arrangements.

Education is a linchpin of inclusive economic development, but poor countries in Africa and elsewhere too often fail poor students—worsening inequity and exclusion today, and undermining economic opportunities for future generations.

The conventional wisdom has it that second-term presidents, freed from the need to win another election, tend to be bolder in their initiatives. While that logic may apply to President Obama's domestic policy, it is unlikely to extend abroad.